Outbursts from the supermassive black hole in M87 and the impact on the hot gas

Deep Chandra, XMM-Newton and ROSAT observations show the impact of AGN outbursts on M87’s hot gaseous atmosphere. Many X-ray features, including X-ray cavities around the jet and counterjet and rings of enhanced emission appear to be the direct result of repetitive AGN outbursts. The rings of emission at 14 and 17 kpc are likely shock fronts. The energetics of the M87 outbursts show that shocks may be the most significant channel for AGN input into its cooling flow atmosphere. The X-ray, as well as the radio observations, show not only the current state of the AGN, but by looking at the reflections of those outbursts in the surrounding gas, we can learn the history of AGN outbursts.